The Falzarego Pass (, ) (el. 2,105 m) is a high

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

in the province of

Belluno Belluno (; ; ) is a town and province in the Veneto region of northern Italy. Located about north of Venice, Belluno is the Capital (political), capital of the province of Belluno and the most important city in the Eastern Dolomites region. W ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It mainly connects the territory of

Agordo Agordo (, locally ; ) is a town and (municipality) in the Province of Belluno, in the Veneto region in Italy. It is located about north of Venice and about northwest of Belluno. Agordo was the headquarters of Luxottica Group S.p.A., the worl ...

and

Cortina d'Ampezzo Cortina d'Ampezzo (; , ; historical ) sometimes abbreviated to simply Cortina, is a town and ''comune'' in the heart of the southern (Dolomites, Dolomitic) Alps in the province of Belluno, in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Situated on the ...

. From the pass, starts also SP24 (Strada provinciale del Passo di Valparola) directed northbound to

Val Badia The Val Badia (, Ladin: ''Val Badia''; ; ) is the valley of the Gran Ega river in South Tyrol, Italy. It stretches from the Sella massif northwards to the Puster Valley. The villages in the Val Badia, whose population are predominantly Ladin-sp ...

passing below Sass de Stria and through Valparola Pass. A gondola rises to the Lagazuoi (2,762 m), which was the object of heavy combat and mine warfare in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The tunnel that the Italians built under the

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

lines is open to the public.

Etymology

The name probably derives from Ladin ''fóuze'', scythe. A popular

folk etymology Folk etymology – also known as (generative) popular etymology, analogical reformation, (morphological) reanalysis and etymological reinterpretation – is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a mo ...

claims that it supposedly comes instead from ''Faúza Règo'', which would mean ''false king'' in Ladin, but is not attested in this form in the language. It would refer to the king of the Fanes, who was supposedly turned to stone for betraying his people.

Sports

The pass is occasionally in the program of the

Giro d'Italia The Giro d'Italia (; ), also known simply as the Giro, is an annual stage race, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 19 ...

race. The Falzarego Pass is one of the Dolomites mountain passes riders cross in the annual

Maratona dles Dolomites The Maratona dles Dolomites (Ladin language, Ladin for "Dolomites Marathon"; ), is an annual single-day road bicycle race covering seven mountain passes in the Dolomites. Open to amateur cyclists, the Maratona—with 9,000 riders chosen from ...

single-day

bicycle race "Bicycle Race" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was released on their 1978 album ''Jazz'' and written by Queen's lead singer Freddie Mercury. It was released as a double A-side single together with the song " Fat Bottomed Girls", re ...

. As riders proceed directly from the Falzarego Pass to the higher Valparola Pass the Falzarego is not counted as one of the canonical seven Maratona passes.

References

Falzarego Geography of Cortina d'Ampezzo Giro d'Italia {{Veneto-geo-stub

Etymology

Sports

See also

References